Shishou
by feifu
Summary: A few years have passed since the end of the Revenge Arc story, Hiko Seijuro is still on the lookout for the would-be heir to the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Would he find his new deshi or would the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu vanish into history? R&R please ^_^
1. Default Chapter

Shishou (working title only)  
  
1  
  
Even as his heavy cloak flared out as the wind started to blow harder, the man known to some as Hiko Seijuro the thirteenth, master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, barely noticed the cold. He was immersed in his thoughts as he walked on towards his home and workshop clutching a jar full of fine sake. Still looking like a decade younger than his true age, the swordsman turned potter hasn't changed much since the last time his former student, the infamous Battousai, visited him to complete his training. A few years had gone by since that time and a lot has happened in Kenshin's life. Most recently was his baka deshi's wedding to that slip of a girl whom he had been living with in Edo. Hiko snickered. "About time." he muttered.  
  
Whatever else he would have whispered to the wind was lost when he heard a scream split the peace more or less serene dirt road. His eyes followed the direction the sound came from, and an instant later, he was hurrying towards it.  
  
One reason was that whomever let out that first scream was now yelling for help. Another reason was that it sounded like a woman, which would most probably mean that unless she was like that hellcat Misao or the half- cultured-half-barbarian girl his baka deshi married, then she didn't have the skills to fend off whatever was distressing her, meaning she must really need help.  
  
His decision to help was a practical one actually; he was only a few meters away from reaching his home and a dead woman being found by the police near his house would only illicit unwanted questions about who he is and what he does. Not that he had many secrets to keep, certainly he doesn't have any illegal undertakings, but a police investigation would be an intrusion in his life nonetheless and he liked his life of peace. So he decided to help.  
  
He came upon five men hovering over someone whom they've pinned to the ground. He didn't hesitate for a second even though he wasn't bringing his sword. He could attack and defend himself without it well enough; besides, he hadn't thought he'd have the need for it today.  
  
Catching their attention by hitting one of them in the head with a very well thrown rock, the master of the dreaded Hiten Mitsurugi style watched as one of the men fall over unconscious and waited till the others all turned towards him.  
  
"Onore! Kisama nani-ugh!" A second man stopped in the middle of his sentence when he saw Hiko throw another stone in the air and catch it without even looking at it. He looked nervously at his downed companion, gulped, and took a step back.  
  
"Well, well, well." a third man turned to spit on the ground as he slowly bared a dagger. "Seems we have an interloper here boys. Or maybe he wants to join in on the fun, what do you think?"  
  
"Suman ne, demo," Hiko said scowling, "I don't find forcing myself on a defenseless young girl fun." Indeed he could see the small form of a girl, probably in her early teens, crouching away from the group of men, holding her torn clothes closely to her body.  
  
"I think we should just kill him for interrupting us," said the second one who had backed a step, apparently having regained his bravado seeing that Hiko wasn't in any hurry to throw the stone at him.  
  
"Think again," Hiko muttered. His next move was too fast for four the men to see. One moment he was standing several yards away from them, the next he had banged together the heads of two of the men and had taken the dagger from its owner and pressing it to the man's groin for sheer poetic justice, after all the man did try to perpetuate a crime using said body part. He finally turned to the last man who was standing whose face turned from surprise to alarm to fright in mere seconds as he watched his companions being beaten. The man started running for his life when Hiko took a step towards him. He ran away screaming, which only served to tick the swordsman off more.  
  
Hiko considered going after the frightened would-be rapist and decided against it. He wouldn't be back, that was for sure. Certainly not to try and avenge his companions, who aren't even dead, just suffering from concussions and a really painful and everlasting wound.  
  
He walked to where the girl had managed to crawl to and slowly kneeled till he was more or less at the same height with her. She was frightened enough as it was and looming over her with his superior height was definitely not going to help. "Daijyoubu ka?"  
  
It seemed his kneeling down to decrease his height didn't help as the girl was now looking at him with blank eyes. He passed his hand before her face and even snapped a finger in front of her eyes, all to no avail. The girl he just rescued was blind.  
  
* * *  
  
A.N:  
  
Well that came out fast. I just watched RK on tv and I guess the interaction between Kenshin and Hiko inspired me to write this. There aren't a lot of Hiko Seijuro fics out there yet so I figured I'd give this a try. Sides I couldn't sleep anyway with this clamoring to get out of my head.  
  
I'm dedicating this story to my favorite roommate who absolutely adores Hiko Seijuro. If you know me personally then you know who this person is but since most of you guys don't, well let's just leave it at that.  
  
Review would be very welcome. Chapter two's on its way.  
  
* * *  
  
Warnings and Disclaimer:  
  
First of, all Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X characters are not mine. Repeat, they are not mine. Mae's the only character I added and would lay claim to so far. All the names and characters mentioned are Watsuki-sensei's creations.  
  
This story is not in any way yaoi or shounen ai so if you're thinking it would have any of those characteristics in the latter chapters, well you're wrong. I'm making it PG 13 for the language and some rather graphic descriptions of violence. 


	2. Chapter 2

2  
  
Hiko stoked the fire and checked to see if the stew was ready to eat. Seeing that it wasn't, he poured himself a cup of sake and sat back looking at the fire.  
  
He turned when he heard a sound come from his sleeping area, where he had deposited the girl he had rescued. She had passed out when he tried talking to her, maybe from sheer exhaustion or fright or even both. She had been asleep the whole afternoon and early evening. It was already past midnight.  
  
He let her be for a few minutes, letting her familiarize herself with her immediate surrounding. When he heard something fall and break, he finally stood up and went towards where the girl was cradling her hand, apparently she'd cut it with the broken crockery as she tried to crawl away.  
  
"Let me see your hand," he spoke softly, but despite that, the girl still froze, her head whipping to where the sound of his voice had come from.  
  
"Dare ka?" she asked, her voice somewhat panicked. "Who are you. and where am I? Where have you taken me?"  
  
"My home, you'll be safe here," he told her, feeling somewhat exasperated at her obvious fear. It wasn't like he was going to do anything to hurt her. He just saved her this morning from getting raped for god's sake! He sat down next to her and impassively waited until she managed to gather enough courage to reach out and touch his face. "Your hand is bleeding."  
  
She instantly withdrew her hand, "It doesn't really hurt."  
  
"Well, you just managed to let blood drip on my clothes."  
  
She looked alarmed at that and muttered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."  
  
"It's alright." He stood up and looked for something to use as bandages. "Give me your hand." The girl stayed still for a while before she finally did as he asked. "This is going to sting a bit."  
  
She winced when he poured a bit of sake over her wound to clean it. "Thank you."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For this and for before."  
  
"What before?"  
  
"For rescuing me."  
  
"Oh that." He finished wrapping her hand, "That was nothing."  
  
"Oh." She closed her eyes. "I." she paused.  
  
"You what?"  
  
"I don't have anything to give to you as repayment."  
  
"I didn't ask for a reward."  
  
"Yes, but-"  
  
"Thank you is enough."  
  
". Alright."  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
"My name's." she frowned. "Mae."  
  
"You don't like your name?"  
  
"It isn't my real name. It's just what people call me."  
  
"Alright," he said, studying her face. "How old are you?  
  
"Sixteen."  
  
His eyebrows went up at that. She looked younger than sixteen.  
  
"Where are you from?"  
  
"I."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
* * *  
  
"Nobody's looking for her."  
  
Hiko's frown deepened as he heard Okina's words. He had gone to the Aoiya to ask the former Oniwa banshu members if they've heard any news about anyone looking for a missing blind girl. Seems there was none.  
  
He was definitely having serious second thoughts about saving Mae. If it didn't go against his very nature and training as a Hiten Mitsurugi master, he would've wished fervently that he hadn't saved her from those men. As it was, he was finding it extremely annoying that he was now stuck with her.  
  
Apparently, Mae either had a selective kind of amnesia or just wouldn't tell him where she came from. No amount of threat, asking, or cajoling would make her tell him where she lived or whom her guardians were. She was willing to tell him though that she had been blind since she turned five, after a particularly high fever that took away her sight after it had abated.  
  
It had been three days since he had rescued her and she'd more or less familiarized herself around the shack he called his home enough that she voluntarily did the household chores that needed doing. He figured that if she could do that at his home, then he could maybe leave her to work at the Aoiya as a maid or serving girl. He knew Okina and his charges wouldn't hurt her. He had no use for a blind teenaged girl around his house. He preferred his solitude after all.  
  
So that's just what he did. He struck a deal with old Okina and left her at the Aoiya. He left feeling gratified that his life would be now back to the relative normality that it had before this rather insignificant event.  
  
* * * to be continued.  
  
A.N:  
  
Took two days to finish this chapter. And to think it's not that long a chapter. Oh well. Finally found the info on Hiko I needed to continue this fic. So, chapter 3's on it's way. Hope you continue to read and review. Thanks very much!  
  
Btw, Mae's name is pronounced as "mah-eh", meaning two separate syllables, not as "may".  
  
* * *  
  
Warnings and Disclaimer:  
  
First of, all Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X characters are not mine. Repeat, they are not mine. Mae's the only character I added and would lay claim to so far. All the names and characters mentioned are Watsuki-sensei's creations.  
  
This story is not in any way yaoi or shounen ai so if you're thinking it would have any of those characteristics in the latter chapters, well you're wrong. I'm making it PG 13 for the language and some rather graphic descriptions of violence. 


	3. Chapter 3

3  
  
It took her the better part of two days to find her way back to his mountain home.  
  
Although he did not show any hints of being surprised, Hiko still was. He considered the meandering route he purposefully took to get to the Aoiya and realized that the girl must have followed that route back, which was certainly a considerable feat because of her blindness.  
  
He watched silently as Mae slowly felt her way forward with a crude stick. Her head came up, and looking much like how a wild animal would test the wind, she turned slightly and started walking straight towards him with a surer step. Then when she was but a few yards away, she stopped.  
  
"I can't see you," she said, her glassy eyes focused at the spot where he stood, "but I do know you're there."  
  
Hiko considered torturing her with silence but then what good would that do? So he answered. ""So what? I've every right to be here since this is my home. You on the other hand-"  
  
"Why did you leave me there?!" she yelled, interrupting him.  
  
Hiko was taken aback at the vehemence in her voice. "You got anything against the people at the Aoiya?"  
  
"Chigau!" she yelled angrily. "That's not it at all!"  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
"Why did you leave me there?" she asked again.  
  
"Why shouldn't I?" For some reason she looked hurt when he said that, nonetheless, he continued, "I saved you. Isn't that enough? Do you really expect me to take care of you for the rest of your life?" When she didn't answer to that, he said, "I'm not your guardian. I'd have returned you to whoever was responsible for you if you'd told me who you are in the first place. But since you didn't, I left you at the one place I knew you'd be relatively safe, where they'd treat you fairly, and where you'd most likely be found by your people."  
  
"Why couldn't you let me stay here?" Mae pleaded sulkily. "I could work here."  
  
"I don't need a servant."  
  
"But I owe you my life."  
  
"Like I said, I don't need any rewards. I did what I did for my own reasons. You thanked me for helping you. That's enough. Now you need to get on with your life. Go back to your home. Your parents must be worried sick by now with you missing."  
  
"I don't have any place to go back to."  
  
Hiko was silent for a moment. "Why is that? Did you run away?"  
  
"No. I didn't." She paused, looking pained at what she was about to say.  
  
"Then why?"  
  
"My parents are both dead, " she explained quietly. "My father's peers sold off all of his remaining property and divided it amongst themselves when he died. I've no home to go back to. All of our relatives have vanished, hidden, or died during the war. My father's two closets friends are dead as well so I don't have anyone to turn to."  
  
"Then why do you want to stay here? You could have stayed at the Aoiya or somewhere else in the city, and worked there."  
  
"I already tried that before, and it doesn't really work."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"No one wants to hire me because I'm blind, alright?!" When he remained quiet, she sighed and said, "I don't like cities."  
  
"You don't like people," Hiko corrected.  
  
She acted as though struck with that idea. "Maybe. I don't know. I've never been used to being surrounded by so many people. I grew up in a remote village just outside of Tokyo. So I'm used to quiet places like this. Besides, I find cities too noisy. I. I can't 'see' when I'm in the middle of so many people. They're too noisy. It confuses me. That's why, that's why I liked it here. It reminded me of the place I grew up in."  
  
"I see."  
  
"Please. Please allow me to stay with you? Onegai desu, Hiko-sama?"  
  
"Where'd you hear that name?" He distinctly remembered supplying her only with his alias.  
  
"From one of the women at the Aoiya. She was literally euphoric about your visit. Are you really as great as she said you were?"  
  
"Ah. Okun." Hiko smirked. "I'm better, kid."  
  
"You're not exactly humble, are you?"  
  
"You did ask."  
  
"So. can I stay here then?"  
  
Knowing that she couldn't see the expression on his face, Hiko openly studied her. Mae wore one of Misao's old clothing; her hair was tied back revealing her large eyes. Glassy eyes that still managed to somewhat openly show the emotions that she was currently feeling. After a few minutes of silence, he finally answered her question with a resounding, "No."  
  
"Why not?!" her very demeanor echoed her frustration at his answer.  
  
Hiko smiled, openly amused, knowing she couldn't see his face, he explained, "I don't need a blind bratty teenaged girl running around my home."  
  
* * *  
  
to be continued.  
  
AN: took even longer to finish this chapter. Gomen. Actually wrote three versions of this and the first two seemed just wrong so I had to rewrite it. Now it's more or less alright for my standards. Chapter 4's on the works. Give me a week or so to finish it. I promise I will. This story's turning out longer than I planned actually. In truth, I got a sequel planned already. But I wouldn't write that until I get this done. Thanks to those who reviewed the story. Glad you liked it ^_^  
  
* * *  
  
Warnings and Disclaimer:  
  
First of, all Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X characters are not mine. Repeat: they are not mine. Mae's the only character I added and would lay claim to so far. All the names and characters mentioned are Watsuki-sensei's creations.  
  
This story is not in any way yaoi or shounen ai so if you're thinking it would have any of those characteristics in the latter chapters, well you're wrong. I'm making it PG 13 for the language and some rather graphic descriptions of violence. 


End file.
